Stuff I see, which you might not.

Camino 5,6,7

by Cate on August 27, 2013

It’s honestly so difficult to remember what happens and where we go every day, but hopefully this post will catch us up to today! I mean, the ‘what happens’ every day is clearly a whole lot of walking, but we are travelling through different landscapes, meeting lots of interesting new people and seeing so many amazing things that it’s hard to keep track.
The heat and fatigue mean that when we reach our destination, we focus on finding a place to stay, then a much needed shower to freshen up, then fixing our medical probs (blisters, sore muscles, aching feet), then washing our dusty, sweaty clothes. The routine is actually pretty nice.
We generally arrive at about 2pm, as we stop during the day for morning tea and then lunch – and to fill our water bottles from the fountains we pass along the way.
Day 5 saw us leave the cute little town of Cirauqui by moonlight and start a long walking day. We visited the famous wine fountain past Estella, which provides free red wine for passing pilgrims, from what looks like a normal water fountain tap. Definitely a Camino ‘experience’ and a nice drink to have with our picnic lunch in the park. Our albergue in Villamayor de Monjardin was run by Dutch volunteers and we were lucky to have a room for our gang of five, complete with our own private balcony with an amazing view…

Day 6 was a walk to Viana – a good walking day and another perfectly sunny (but quite cool) summer day in Spain. We passed through Los Arcos, greeted by a strange small farm and comprehensive sign about the town’s attributes. The hostel in Viana was interesting – three-tiered bunks and we all got sent to the tops of our bunks, which was quite the gymnastic feat, I tell you.

Day 7 was the day that a French girl had told us would be so great that our bodies would feel fantastic and we could skip along the path. No such luck and we’re all pretty tired and sore today, so settled for a town 22km along, rather than pushing on closer to 30km. A good move to take it easy and enjoy a nice afternoon and then tapas dinner in Navarette. Today we passed through the beautiful Logrono – including a massive park and very friendly people. And a giant sort of Snakes & Ladders, Camino-version. We met up with our funny German pal, Andy, but otherwise we’re seeing lots of new pilgrims as more people start on the way to Santiago. Now it’s 10pm – time for bed!

Hard to say, TSL – I’ve certainly never felt this physically exhausted, but not sure that counts as a change?! Surviving the daily physical challenge is really satisfying and there’s definitely a lot of thinking time & a lot of interesting people with stories/views to consider…and we’re not even 1/4 of the way through yet!